Content marketing is one of the best ways for brands to make a valuable connection with their audience. While advertising seeks to sell, content marketing helps a brand establish its voice and identity, build trust, and develop relationships. While the end goal remains generating leads and making sales, content marketing focuses more on the journey than the result.
Customers have come to expect high-quality, well-thought-out content marketing that appeals to them. Whether it’s an email newsletter, a blog post, or a social media video, content should be consistent and align with your brand. More than half (53%) of US businesses invest time and money in content marketing to grow as a company, with more joining the fold each day. Back in 2016, that number was just 36% — solid proof that it’s how modern brands are operating.
While content marketing was just a buzzword a decade ago, it’s now well-established in the mainstream. Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a huge company spread across the globe, content marketing should be an essential aspect of your growth plan.
Let’s take a look at why content marketing is so important for businesses.
7 content marketing benefits you can tap into
There are 7 key benefits to using content marketing as part of your brand strategy. These include:
- Building trust and credibility
- Increasing brand awareness
- Driving more traffic to site
- Boosting your SEO
- Generating leads
- Increasing customer interactions
- Establishing a presence on multiple channels
Let’s dive into the details of each one below.
1. Build trust and credibility
Content marketing allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Rather than just selling your goods or services, you can use things like blog posts and newsletters to share information and educate your customers.
When consumers find valuable information relevant to their interests on your website or through your content, they’re more likely to trust your brand. Content that shares behind-the-scenes insights, customer testimonials, and authentic stories about your business will also help humanize your brand. This transparency contributes to building trust with your audience.
2. Increase your brand awareness
By creating and promoting valuable content, you can reach a larger audience beyond those already aware of your brand and products. While increasing your potential customer base, you can also use content marketing to ensure that everyone in your target audience is aware of all you have on offer. And make that content as interesting and fun as possible! If you see something good online, you’ll likely share it with your friends, right?
Engaging content is more likely to be shared on social media platforms, exposing your brand to a broader audience. This word-of-mouth promotion can significantly enhance brand awareness, too.
3. Drive more traffic to your website
Simply put, if your website is nothing but a landing page and a storefront, it will be difficult to get anyone to visit unless they’re ready to make a purchase.
Content marketing — specifically blog posts and videos — gets eyes on your site from customers who’ve never heard of your brand.
Search engines favor websites that regularly update their content. By consistently publishing new and relevant information, you signal to search engines that your website is active and worth indexing. And that leads us to….
4. Boost your SEO
If content marketing is king, SEO is the crown on its head. Quality content, optimized with relevant keywords, can improve your website’s search engine ranking. As a result, when people search for information related to your industry, your website is more likely to appear in search results, driving organic traffic.
Creating valuable content, like blog posts, can attract inbound links from other websites, driving traffic and boosting your SEO performance.
5. Generate leads and conversions
Well-crafted content can include clear calls to action, encouraging visitors to take the next step, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, or making a purchase.
Content marketing can be useful at all sales funnel stages, from awareness to loyalty. Informative blog posts, newsletters, and social videos can attract potential customers and nurture them through that lucrative sales funnel.
6. Increase your customer interactions
Content marketing is a two-way pipeline. Interactive content like quizzes, polls, surveys, and videos can engage your audience more effectively, leading to a stronger connection between your brand and your audience.
On social media, the more comments and engagement on your content, the better. Responding to these interactions builds a sense of community around your brand and keeps your audience actively engaged.
7. Establish a presence on multiple channels
Content marketing allows you to tap into various formats, including blog posts, social media posts, emails, podcasts, and more.
A multi-channel approach ensures that your content reaches your audience wherever they are and lets you cater to different preferences within your target audience, increasing the chance they’ll see and engage with your content and your business.
Now that we’ve convinced you, where should you start with content marketing?
These are just a few reasons why you shouldn’t ignore content marketing, but where do you start to get these results? We’ve built a whole library of content for anyone looking to get started on their content marketing journey (or improve their content marketing efforts).
Start out by taking a look at our Complete Guide To B2C Content Marketing, which is a handy reference guide to have on hand — bookmark this one for future use!
For all you beginners out there who are still getting their heads around the idea of content marketing, our Beginner’s Guide is the perfect place to start.
While SEO is an essential aspect of content marketing, it can be a little tricky to master. For all things Search Engine Optimization, read this complete guide.
For emails and newsletters, everything you need to know can be found in this Guide to Email Marketing, while our Social Media Marketing Guide is a must-read before getting started on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and everything else.
Finally, if you’re looking to master e-commerce content marketing, then this guide will be there with you every step of the way.
For more help with content marketing, Scribly is your one-stop shop dedicated to helping brands master their online presence. Get in touch today for a free audit!
